Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Coming From Pa.

BLOOMSBURG, Pa.—An 85-foot Norway spruce that belonged to a central Pennsylvania family of “Christmas elves” will serve as the Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree this year.

The 76-foot-tall tree is lit with 45,000 lights during the 81st Annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in New York on Dec. 4, 2013. This year, the Christmas tree will be an 85-foot, 13-ton Norway spruce. Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times

Workers cut down the 13-ton tree and a crane hoisted it onto a trailer Wednesday morning for the 155-mile journey to Midtown Manhattan. It'll be illuminated for the first time on Dec. 3 in a ceremony that’s been held since 1933.

The tree was donated by Dan Sigafoos, 38, and Rachel Drosdick-Sigafoos, 29, who live in a century-old farmhouse about three hours west of New York City. They begin their holiday season early by starting to play Christmas music in August or September.

“I am a big Christmas elf. My whole family are Christmas elves,” said Drosdick-Sigafoos, a diving coach at Susquehanna University who also works part time at a hospital. “So for me, this is just literally beyond my wildest dreams.”

Erik Pauze, the head gardener at Rockefeller Center, was driving on Interstate 80 several years ago when he spied the tree from the highway.

“I said, ”‘Whoa! Check that out,’” Pauze recalled.

An 85-foot, 13-ton Norway spruce, which will serve as Rockefeller Center's Christmas tree this year, is prepared to be cut down Wednesday morning Nov. 5, 2014 in Bloomsburg, Pa. ahead of the 155-mile journey to midtown Manhattan. The tree will be illuminated for the first time on Dec. 3 in a ceremony that's been held since 1933. The tree came from the home of Dan Sigafoos and Rachel Drosdick-Sigafoos. AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam